1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical outlets, and more particularly, to electrical outlets which include two alternate circuits and a slidable circuit selection plate. These outlets may be controlled from a nearby wall switch, or may remain energized, depending on the position of the male plug in the outlet. In addition, the slidable circuit selection plate returns to a safety position when the male plug is removed.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following patents relate to electrical receptacles and safety caps for electrical outlets:
______________________________________ Patent Number Inventor Date ______________________________________ 4,094,569 Dietz 1978 4,168,104 Buschow 1979 4,240,686 Kurbikoff 1980 4,271,337 Barkas 1981. ______________________________________
Dietz '569 describes a safety cube tap which employs a single resilient spring to bias a pair of adjacent protective plates to slide over the female receptacles in the cube tap. Buschow '104 discloses an electrical outlet having a ground prong activated gear mechanism which moves the slots in the safety plate into alignment with the slots of the outlet.
Kurbikoff '686 shows a triplex receptacle having vertically disposed grounded outlets which fit into a standard, single gang electrical receptacle box. The three outlets have a common ground, common neutral and common hot conductors. There is only one circuit common to all three receptacles, and there is no provision for controlling one or more of the circuits from a remote wall switch.